LME copper rallies to 5-month high, closes up 4% at $4,300 per tonne; all base metals end higher Friday after week of better-than-expected economic data.
Friday’s US non-farm payroll data was in line with expectations. Fund buying, technical buy-stops, momentum buying pushed prices higher.
The G 20 summit, improved economic data spurring bulls into action. But a number of market participants still unconvinced about copper’s rally. China buying copper on arbitrage trading, government’s strategic stockpiling means being short copper is the wrong trade.
But while copper’s short-term technical outlook better, traders worried prices are outrunning fundamentals. LME 3-month copper closes up $160 vs PM kerb at $4,300 per tonne, aluminium up $53 at $1,481, lead up $34 at $1,314, zinc up $33 at $1,365, nickel up $350 at $10,930, tin up $155 at $11,080.
There are some traders who are looking at (recent) highs in equities as a sign of a long-term bottom being formed, so gold investment is losing out as a result. Political furore over North Korea’s alleged long-range missile test fails to have much of an impact on safe-haven gold.